South Sudan became an independent country on 9 July last year after a referendum ended decades of civil war that had killed an estimated 2 million people.

One of the first post-independence tasks of South Sudan's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) was to produce a GDP estimate. It came in at $1,546 per capita, which compares well with the country's east African neighbours – for example, $769 in Kenya and $189 in Burundi.

To help make up the shortfall, the government aims to boost non-oil revenue by raising taxes, fees and other "non-tax revenues". It plans to finance the rest from foreign currency reserves and domestic borrowing from commercial banks.

Inflation hits 75%

The sudden shortfall of state revenues and foreign currency caused the South Sudanese pound to weaken sharply on the black market and pushed up the prices of food and other commodities in the import-dependent nation, Reuters said.

Source: South Sudan NBS

Border clashes lead to rise in refugees

Recent clashes in the border dispute with Khartoum have seen more than 110,000 people displaced southwards and into Ethiopia, according the UNHCR.

"While South Sudan's independence from Sudan took place peacefully, some key issues are still to be resolved," the UNHCR said. "They include disputed territory, notably in the Abyei administrative region, and resources, as well as nationality and citizenship issues. Each of these questions could trigger conflict or population displacement, as shown by recent clashes that led to the displacement of more than 110,000 people southwards, and into Ethiopia.

"Return from the north remains a sensitive issue, and means of regularising the presence of South Sudanese who remain in the north have yet to be found. Violence has affected various parts of the south in 2011; by the end of August, the humanitarian community reported that more than 3,070 people had been killed in inter-communal and militia-related violence and 304,400 had been displaced. Moreover, as the large-scale returns continue from Sudan and from countries of asylum, the presence of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and other armed groups could result in localised insecurity and displacement."

Since it separated from Sudan on 9 July a year ago, South Sudan has faced a set of manmade and natural disasters. Conflict with the north has led to tens of thousands of refugees fleeing south across the border, where communities that already lack water and shelter are struggling to host half a million uprooted people. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) are providing medical services in Maban county